Little painted handprints covered two columns at the entrance of Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic and Surgery Center structure Wednesday morning during the center’s site dedication ceremony. A group of children patiently waited their turn to leave their colorful and very permanent mark on the future outpatient center.

Bellevue Mayor Grant Degginger and Seattle Children’s Hospital CEO Dr. Thomas Hansen joined the children in dedicating the new Bellevue facility, scheduled to open in summer 2010.

Seattle Children’s Bellevue Clinic will serve children and families in east King County.

“This new center in Bellevue will allow Children’s to offer everything we do in Seattle at our outpatient care unit to the children who live over here on the Eastside,” Hansen said, as he stood in the shade of the center’s cement structure. “Bellevue was a great choice for this new center and will serve the community well.”

The 75,000-square-foot clinic, located at 1500 116th Avenue Northeast, is on schedule according to Hansen. Excavation and shoring have been completed and construction of the two-story structure with underground parking is 25 percent complete.

The new center will feature outpatient surgery, urgent care, radiology, pharmacy, lab, sports therapy gym and will include more than 15 clinics, from orthopedics and sports medicine to general surgery. Currently, Seattle Children’s Hospital is located on the fourth floor in the Overlake Medical Tower next to Overlake Hospital just down the road from the future center.

“Overlake has been a great partner with Children’s by allowing us to use space in their facility here in Bellevue,” Hansen explained, adding, “And Bellevue as a whole have been so supportive of this project. I think we made the right choice when we chose Bellevue.”

Lindsay Larin can be reached at 425.453.4602.